I started out with the idea to write something today about the ‘gut brain’ and then remembered this wonderful article written by two friends, Dorthe Krogsgaard and Peter Lund Frandsen of the Touchpoint Institute in Denmark.

Peter and Dorthe covered the topic so well, I realized there was no sense in my writing anything when they said it all! So, with their permission, I share it here. Please read and enjoy!

I am inspired by the research findings that I read these days regarding reflexology, Reiki, craniosacral therapy and massage. I hope and trust that all professional therapists are using this valuable information to reach out and help more and more people in their communities who are living with debilitating and often life-threatening health conditions.

That is what motivated me back in 2009 to include a class on evidence-based research and the writing of case reports in my Therapeutic Hand & Foot Reflexology Professional Certification curriculum. With that information in their pockets, students choose a health condition they would like to explore and create and implement a case study on their own.

To read the studies, including methodology, results and conclusions, please visit this link.

I make these studies available to show some proof – albeit, limited – of reflexology’s potential to influence certain health conditions. They are great educational and marketing tools. Give those clients who want to see proof that reflexology might help them improve the quality of their lives what they want! Use these findings to encourage people you know to give reflexology a try.

It seems that the massage community is beginning to recognize the role of the nervous system in determining muscle tone. Reflexology, however, has always taught that it is through the nervous system that we affect all the systems in the body, including the musculoskeletal system.

To confirm those early theories regarding reflexology’s relationship with the central nervous system, Dr. Jesus Manzanares of Spain conducted EEG (electroencephalogram) studies a few years ago that compared the changes in brain wave amplitudes with subjects receiving foot reflexology. The EEG showed the movement of the autonomic nervous system through the various wavelengths; from beta (the waking, alert state) to alpha to theta and delta (deep sleep). Dr. Manzanares’ study confirmed what other research had shown, and that is the direct effect of reflexology on the central nervous system’s autonomic system function.

And now, the massage industry is discovering the role of the nervous system in muscle tone. As Til Luchau reports in the 2018 July/August edition of the ABMP magazine:

“Massage, bodywork and manual therapy probably don’t work in the ways we thought they did. It’s becoming clearer that these modalities produce many (some say all) of their beneficial effects via the nervous system and the brain, and that they probably produce far few direct physiological changes (such as reducing lactic acid) or structural changes (such as permanently remodeling connective tissues) than we previously thought.”

This is certainly contrary to what I learned attending massage school back in 1989! We were taught that it was the direct manipulation by our trained hands that was manually coercing muscles to relax. Today, modern science is demonstrating that it is the nervous system that directs muscles to contract or relax, not so much direct manipulation with our hands.

It makes sense then to go to the source – to talk to the brain – and let the body’s incredibly wise nervous system direct impulses to the muscle fibers to return to a healthy tonus.

As Luchau continues, “We can be me even more effective in our work by better understanding the ways our hands-on work interacts with the brain and nervous system.”

Thankfully, reflexologists have a head start on that conversation. And, I think it would behoove our industry to learn and teach even more on this critical point, don’t you?

Could reflexology help someone who has lived with insufficient venous return for over 20 years?

2017 Academy grad and advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP), Roberta Cirocco, decided to test whether a combination of hand and foot reflexology could positively affect a 68-year-old woman with diagnosed lymphedema who has been living with venous insufficiency for 20 years. You can read the results here.

Having gone through a couple of months myself with a chronic pain in my hands, I can sympathize with the subject of this study. As an artist having to use her hands in so many ways all day just to keep her business alive, well… it couldn’t have been easy.

Next month will mark the 14th anniversary of the first randomized controlled study of reflexology published in a scientific journal in the United States.

And it’s one that should convince you of the benefit of reflexology for women suffering from premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Over 90% of women claim to experience some of the symptoms of PMS, so it’s nice to know we can help. [1]

“Randomized Controlled Study of Premenstrual Symptoms Treated with Ear, Hand and Foot Reflexology” was conducted at the American Academy of Reflexology in California and led by Terry Oleson, Ph.D. and Bill Flocco, the director of the Academy. Academy grads participated to provide sessions over a 6-month period.

Fifteen physical and 15 psychological symptoms were tracked every day of the study’s duration. The control group, which received no reflexology, showed no change in their symptoms; the placebo group reported a 19% reduction in symptoms, and the group that received reflexology reported a 47% reduction of symptoms. That is a significant result!

The results of the study were published in Obstetrics and Gynecology in December 1993. You can read the full report here.

In this fast-paced world we live in, some people think that sleeping is a waste of time when there is just so much to do. (I have a friend who believes this.)

I listened to a great interview conducted by NPR’s Terry Gross on Fresh Air on October 16. She interviewed Matthew Walker, who wrote Why We Sleep, the first sleep book written by a leading scientific expert on the subject. I highly recommend listening to the interview or reading the book if you are one of the thousands of people who have chronic sleep problems, and/or are one of us who are getting on in years, or just someone interested in the amazing workings of our brains. This information could change your health and the longevity of your life.

The key points brought forth by neuroscientist Matthew Walker and his team:

Regularity – the number 1 point – go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time. Even on days off. Sleep eight hours/night. He shared really interesting results from studies that indicated a link between chronic sleep deprivation and Alzheimer’s disease, and what the brain actively does when you sleep (and only when you sleep) to prevent the onset of this growing epidemic. It was fascinating.

Darkness. Walker recommends dimming the lights in the evening as you’re winding down. (You are winding down in the evening, aren’t you?) Not to go from bright lights to the darkness of the sleep environment. No screen time before bed or in the bedroom. Use blackout curtains so that your bedroom is dark. He relayed some interesting information on how melatonin works and the only time it actually helps with sleep issues. Once again, different than what most people think about this hormone.

Walker’s studies determined that if you can’t sleep, it is best to get up, move to another room, read a book (not look at screens) in dim light until you feel tired again; then return to bed. He explained that tossing and turning in bed trying to get back to sleep for hours just trains the brain to associate wakefulness with the bed. The other strategy that worked equally well – and that surprised this scientist – is to sit up and meditate.

I generally have no problem with sleep, but on the rare occasions that I do, I am always interested to note what hours I am awake and why. I believe that my body is out-of-balance when this occurs and am ultimately grateful for the information it is sending me – although not in the middle of the night! For example, recently I did a three-day cleanse, and on the third night found myself awake between 2 and 3am. One to 3am is the time of day when the liver is most active detoxing. Made sense to me.

No caffeine after 2pm. No alcohol in evening. Again, some of the recent science was new to me.

Sleep in a cold room: 68 to 69 degrees. Just pile on the blankies if this sounds too cold. You will fall asleep quicker and sleep sounder.

2016 Academy grad, Antonia Creamer, undertook a tough condition to research that plagues somewhere between 5 to 8 million people; a disorder characterized by widespread pain and diffuse tenderness. You can read here the results of Antonia’s study with fibromyalgia and how you might help your clients suffering from fibromyalgia with reflexology.

Studies document that chronic pain affects more people in the United States, and incurs greater costs than cancer, heart disease, and diabetes combined. I’ll repeat that: Chronic pain affects more people in the United States and incurs greater costs than cancer, heart disease, and diabetes combined. There are an estimated 100 million people in the United States living with chronic pain, most of the back, headaches or arthritis. [i]

To compound the problem, opiates and other drugs do a poor job of relieving much chronic pain and can result in serious risks, including addiction.

Two participants in last year’s Therapeutic Hand & Foot Reflexology Professional Certification decided to research whether regular reflexology would help two women who have suffered from back pain for years.

Imagine a life devoid of scents: like the smell of a newborn’s head, fresh flowers, just baked bread and/or a wet pine forest. That is what life is like for someone living with anosmia, the loss or impairment of the sense of smell.

Additionally, with the loss of smell comes the impairment of taste and decreased enjoyment of food. That is because our perception of flavor is determined by the convergence of abilities to detect odor and taste.

Kelli Sharping, a graduate of the Academy’s 2016 Therapeutic Hand & Foot Reflexology Professional Certification decided she would like to see whether regular reflexology would help someone who had been living with anosmia for two and a half years, well past the acknowledged time for recovery.